Aerial view of IGCAS

Research fields and divisions of IGCAS (Note: SKLODG: the State Key Laboratory of Ore Deposit Geochemistry; GERCIUMR,CAS:the Guizhou Engineering Research Center of Integrated Utilization of Mineral Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences; SKLEG: the State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry; KLHTHPSEI,CAS: the Key Laboratory of High-temperature and High-pressure Study of the Earth's Interior, Chinese Academy of Sciences; CLPS: the Center for Lunar and Planetary Sciences.)

The Institute of Geochemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGCAS) was founded in Guiyang in 1966, with primary staff and equipment relocated from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Institute of Geology in Beijing. The institute focuses on geochemical cycles and processes on Earth and the planets.

As the “cradle” of the discipline of geochemistry in China, IGCAS was the first institute in China to establish and develop isotope geochemistry, experimental geochemistry, geochemistry of fluid inclusions, ore deposit geochemistry, environmental geochemistry, and cosmochemistry.

IGCAS is home to world-class analytical and experimental research facilities, including the State Key Laboratory of Ore Deposit Geochemistry, the State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, the Guizhou Engineering Research Center of Integrated Utilization of Mineral Resources of CAS, the Key Laboratory for High-temperature and High-pressure Study of the Earth's Interior of CAS, and the Center for Lunar and Planetary Sciences. Its facilities also include an observation system for the composition, structure and morphology of microareas; an element-isotope analytical testing system; an identification system for fluid properties; and theoretical and experimental simulation systems.

IGCAS has produced many significant research achievements, involving such fields as the mineralization of rare elements, rare earth elements and dispersed elements; theories of stratabound deposits, low-temperature deposits, and super-large deposits; intracontinental metallogeny in South China; the Karst ecoenvironment; the geochemical environment and human health; the composition, structure and characteristics of materials from the Earth’s interior; and lunar and planetary science.

The institute has also won numerous national and provincial science and technology awards, the most prominent being a National Science and Technology Progress Award Grand Prize and a First-level National Natural Science Award. These recognitions reflect the profound impact of IGCAS research on the field of geochemistry and on the nation’s environment.

Our institute has a strong reputation for cultivating high-level talent in the fields of resources and environmental science. The institute offers master’s and doctoral programs in geochemistry, mineralogy, petrology, geology of ore deposits, and environmental science, as well as postdoctoral fellowships in geology and environmental science. Many renowned scientists launched their careers here, 15 of whom have been elected as academicians.

Based on its academic strength, IGCAS has carried out extensive international scientific and technical exchange and collaboration with organizations in more than 40 countries and regions. These organizations include the U.S. Geological Survey, the French National Center for Scientific Research, the Max Planck Society, and the Russian Academy of Sciences. The institute is increasingly becoming an international leader and hub in the earth sciences.